This page includes explorable data and summaries of the numbers of enterprises and local business units over time, alongside business survival statistics and a comparison of average ages for those working in Surrey and residents of Surrey.
Highlights:
(last updated 2025)
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As of March 2024, there were 70,185 local units in Surrey. A local unit can be thought of as a workplace, in other words, an individual site associated with an enterprise.
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The industry with the highest number of Surrey local units in 2024 is the 'professional, scientific & technical' industry with 19.6 per cent of local units which is higher than the South East (16.0%) and England (14.4%).
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In Surrey, the numbers of local units in the 'professional, scientific & technical' and 'information & communication' industries were growing in the early 2010s, saw stagnation in the mid to late 2020s, and are now declining post-2020. The total local units in 'construction' and 'property' have, conversely, continued to increase since 2010.
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There were 62,265 enterprises in Surrey at the time of the UK Business Counts in March 2024.
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The top four industries with the highest number of enterprises in Surrey in 2024 are: 'professional, scientific & technical', 'construction', 'information & communication', and 'business administration & support services'.
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Just under one in every ten enterprises (9.2%) include 10 or more employees in Surrey in 2024.
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Changing numbers of enterprises are examined in the Business Demography dataset by the ONS which views the number of Surrey enterprises active over a whole year rather than just in March. In 2023, every Surrey district and borough apart from Mole Valley experienced more enterprise births than deaths.
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In 2023, Surrey as a whole included 6,095 enterprise deaths compared to 6,460 enterprise births. In 2023, there were less enterprise deaths than the formation of new enterprises (births) for the first time since 2019.
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The number of high growth enterprises in Surrey consistently declined between 2018 to 2021 but has been growing since 2021 to 295 in 2023.
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On average, Surrey residents are paid more than people working in Surrey. For example, the estimated average (median) annual wage for Surrey residents in 2024 is 9.1 per cent (+£3,814) higher than those working in Surrey.
This data can be further explored in the Surrey businesses: a summary of local units and enterprises dashboard below.
Data sources
Business counts: UK business: activity, size and location - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) The data contained in these tables are produced from a snapshot of the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) taken in March each year. The main administrative sources for the IDBR are VAT trader and PAYE employer information passed to the ONS by HM Revenue & Customs under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 for VAT traders and the Finance Act 1969 for PAYE employers; details of incorporated businesses are also passed to ONS by Companies House.
Business demography (survival etc.): Business demography, UK - Office for National Statistics
Gross Pay Statistics by place of residence: Earnings and hours worked, place of residence by local authority: ASHE Table 8 - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
Gross Pay Statistics by place of work: Earnings and hours worked, place of work by local authority: ASHE Table 7 - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
